Improvement in pile-drivers



UNITEE STATES PATENT QEErcE.

IMPROVEMENT IN PILE=DR|VERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,465, dated July 25, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY RoEHRs, of Washington, in the county of Washington and District of Columbia, have invented certain Improvements in Pile-Drivin g Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to pile-drivm g machines; and consists in a novel arrangement of automatic devices for throwing the hoisting mechanism of the hammer in and out of gear at proper times, whereby the machine is rendered automatic in its operation, the engine or other motor allowed to run continuously, and the necessity of an attendant obviated.

Figure lis a side elevation of my improved machine, a portion of the upright guides being brokenaway. Fig. 2 is a top-plan View of the hoisting mechanism, and Fig. 3 a face view of the hammer and its lifting-dog in position.

In constructing my machine I provide a suitable frame and mount firmly thereon uprights or guides A, and against the front face of these guides mount a hammer or monkey, B, so as to slide freely up and down. At the top ofthe guides d I mount a pulley, a., and over this pulley pass a rope or chain, C, and attach the lfront end of this rope to a sliding block, D, which I mount in the guides above the hammer, as shown in Figs. l and 3. To the face of block D I pivot a hook or catch, E, having a weighted arm, c, and another arm, d, which bears under a pin, e, on the block so as to prevent the weighted arm from turning the catch over. When the rope C is slackened the block D is permitted to slide down, and the lower hooked end of catch E engages with an eye, f, on top of the hammer, so that when the block is hoisted by means of the rope it lifts the hammer. On the guide A, at the proper point, I secure a pin, g,'so located that when the block D is raised opposite thereto the arm d of catchF strikes against it, and the catch is thereby disengaged from the hammer and the latter thus allowed to fall. Behind the guides A, in a suitable frame, I mount a horizontal drum, F, and connect the rear end of rope C securelyT thereto. Above the drum F I moimt a shaft, G, having at one end a pinion, h, which gears into awheel, i, on the end of the drum, and having on the opposite end a pulley, k, to be driven directly from the engine, so that when the pinion and wheel are in gear and the shaft is set in motion the drum will be operated, the rope C wound thereon, and the block D and the hammer hoisted up. The pinion h I do not mount directly upon the shaft G, but upon a supplemental shalt, m., which is arranged to slide longitudinally within the end of shaft G, the two being so connected by a spline or other device as to always rotate together. plemental shaft endwise the pinion h may be thrown in and out of gear with the wheel t' of the drum, so that when the block D and hammer have been raised and the hammer dropped, by disengaging the drum the rope may be allowed to unwind and the block to descend so that the catch will engage again with the hammer, and so, also, that when the catch has thus taken hold, by again throwing the pinion in gear the drinn will be set in motion and the hammer hoisted, the engine and shaft Gr continuing in motion all the while. On the frame of the machine, at right angles to the drum, I mount a horizontal rock-shaft, K, having two upright arms, n and o, and a horizontal arm, p, as shown in Figs. l and 2. The arm n I connect, by a swivel-joint, with the sliding portion m of shaft G, so that by operating the rock-shaft thepinion h may be thrown in and out of gea-r. The arm o I provide with a weight, p, which, as the shaft is turned, is thrown to one side or the other of the same so as to hold the pinion in or out of gear, as the case may be. On the back of the guides A I mount avertical rod, L, in such manner as to have a little play vertically, and the lower end of this rod I connect to the horizontal arm p of the rock-shaft, as shown, so that by moving the rod up and down the pinion h may be thrown in and out of gear. To this rod L I connect two arms, N and O, the former near the upper end and the latter near the lower. The upper arm is secured just above the pin g, which trips the catch and releases the hammer, as before described.

The parts being thus arranged and the pinion in gear and in motion, the operation is as follows: The pinion It, through wheel zi, operates the drum F, which winds up the rope C and hoists the block D and the hammer B. When the hammer has reached the proper height the block D will be opposite pin g, which will trip the catch E and allow the hammer to fall. Theblock continues its upward movement until it strikes arm N of rod L, when, by lifting said arm, it raises the rod By moving the sup- A and throws the pinion h out of gear, and thereby releases the drum. As soon as the drum is thus released the block slides down the guides A and the catch E again engages with the hammer B, the rope bein g, ofcourse, unwound from the drum as the block D descends. When the block D thus drops down it also strikes upon the lower arm O of the rod L, and by thus depressing the latter throws the pinion into gear, so that the drum is again operated and the hammer hoisted. rIhus it will be seen that the block D slides down, and, striking arm O, throws the hoisting-gear into operation, while, at the same instant, its catch engages with the hammer 5 that the hammer then ascen'ds until the'pin g releases it, while the block asccnds, strikes arm N, and stops and releases the hoisting-gear, and thereby the block 5 and that the block thus released again slides down, and so on repeatedly. As the pile is forced down by each stroke of the hammer, and as the hammer consequently descends further at each stroke than at the previous one, it is necessary that the arm 0 shall be so arranged as to slide down 011 the rod when the block D strikes it, as otherwise the arm would prevent the block from descend ing so that the catch E could engage with the hammer. The arm, while so arranged as to slide under the weight or blow of the block, should, at the same time, have sufiicient friction upon the rod to move the same and the devices connected therewith. By adjusting the upper arm N and the pin g the hammer may be arranged to drop from any point or height desired. Itis obvious that the hammer would be raised and dropped if attached permanently to the end of rope C without the block D and its catch being interposed. Such an arrangement is, however, objectionable, for the reason that the descent ofthe hammer is somewhat impeded by having to uncoil the rope from the drum.

By the above method of construction I am enabled to produce a simple, cheap, and entirely automatic machine, which requires no operator or attendant, and which permits the engine to run continuously and without interruption.

It is obvious that, instead of having the shaft G made in two parts and having the pinion 71l mounted on one of them, the shaft maybe a continuous one, in one piece, and the pinion h made to slide thereon and revolve loosely, except when secured by a suitable clutch, which may be operated by arm n.

I am aware that various machines have been constructed in which the operating mechanism has YbeenY arran ged to Vbe automatically connected and disconnected at certain intervals.; and I do not claim such a device, broadly, but I am not aware that a pile-driver has ever before been constructed in which the movements of the hammer serve to automatically connect and disconnect the winding apparatus; therefore,

What I claim is- 1. The shifting-rod Lprovided with the stationary arm N and the movable arm O, operating as described, in combination with the sliding head D or its equivalent, said shifting-rod being connected to the winding mechanism substantially as described, whereby the latter is automatically thrown in and out of gear by the rising and falling of the weight at different heights, as set forth.

2. The drum F with its gear-wheel i, and shaft G with its sliding pinion h, in combination with the rock-shaft K having onearm connected with the pinion and the other arm connected to the rod L, all constructed and arranged for joint operation, substantially as set forth.

HENRY ROEHRS.

Witnesses: l

PHIL. T. DODGE, HARRY KING. 

